John Bermingham
Province
George Winchcombe, 80, received $337,000 for the sale of his family home in the 800-block Dunlevy in Vancouver. Six weeks later it was resold as two properties for a total of $491,000. JON MURRAY — THE PROVINCE
Geoffrey Davis, found negligent by the Real Estate Council of B.C., says he did what the seller wanted.
A realtor has been disciplined for his role in the sale of a house that was resold six weeks later for $154,000 more.
And the elderly man who watched the profit slip out of his hands said yesterday the realtor, Geoffrey Reginald Davis of Sutton Group-West Coast Realty, should have received a heftier penalty.
Davis, a realtor for 20 years, was ordered to pay $1,355 and retake the ethics portion of his real-estate course, which will cost him $150.
“I’m really angry,” said George Winchcombe, 80, the vendor, who now lives in an old folks’ home.
Winchcombe hired Davis to sell his property at 842-844 Dunlevy Ave. in Strathcona, two back-to-back lots that contained a century-old house that’s now on the heritage list.
The two lots were listed as one property at $339,000 and sold on May 4 last year for $337,000. The following month, the buyer relisted the properties separately and sold the house for $301,000 and the adjoining lot for $190,001 — a profit of $154,000.
Winchcombe said he’s since talked with the current owner of the house.
“He paid $300,000, that’s just for the one lot,” he said. “All I got for both bloody lots and a house is $337,000.”
The Real Estate Council of B.C., in finding Davis negligent, said he “failed to adequately advise or recommend to [Winchcombe] that the said property should be listed and sold as two separate lots.”
It ordered him to pay $1,355 in enforcement expenses and retake the ethics course. An allegation that he failed to adequately advise Winchcombe of the fair-market value of his property was dismissed.
Davis said he advised Winchcombe to sell the lots separately.
“I felt we could get more net into his pocket if the properties were listed separately,” he said yesterday. “He said, ‘Oh, no, no.’
“At that point, you say, ‘Well, OK, I follow what the seller wants.'” Winchcombe may have been trying to avoid paying a double commission, said Davis.
He said the property’s condition was so bad, it was “out of a Charles Dickens horror movie, literally beyond your wildest imagination.”
The two couples who bought the property together tried to clean it up and fix it, but instead decided to sell it as two lots.
In January, the B.C. government gave the real-estate industry the power to police itself. The new rules include increased fines on individual realtors, up to a maximum of $10,000, but the fines can’t be imposed on cases from last year.
In a hot market, Robert Fawcett, the real estate council’s executive officer, said he’s getting calls from people caught up in bidding wars or from people who feel they sold for too little.
“There are two sides to every story,” he said. “I’m convinced there’s more protection now.”
Veteran realtor Bob Rennie said fines for realtors should be higher.
“I’ve always felt the penalties for wrongful acts in our industry are far too low,” he said. “If the penalties are high, the incidents are a lot lower. We’re not dealing with $39,000 acquisitions any more.”
© The Vancouver Province 2005